The terms of the basic ideas of the writer harbored for a long time, perhaps even from prison. Social motives were in it a philosophical depth sounding, inseparable from the moral drama of Raskolnikov, "killer-theorist," a modern Napoleon. The collapse of the individualistic idea of ​​Raskolnikov, his attempts to become "master of fate," rise above "a loathsome creature" and at the same time happiness of mankind, to save the unfortunate philosophical response to Dostoevsky's revolutionary mood of the 1860s. The plot revolves around the protagonist, Rodion Raskolnikov, the head of which matures theory of the crime. According to his idea of ​​humanity is divided into "the right to have" and "loathsome creature." "The right to have" (the classic example is Napoleon) have the right to commit murder or murder for the sake of some future great things. Raskolnikov himself is very poor, he can not pay, not only at university, but also their own accommodation. His mother and his sister, too poor, he soon learns that his sister (Avdotya Romanovna) is ready to marry a man who does not love, for money to help his family. This was the last straw, and Raskolnikov commits a premeditated murder of an old woman money-lender ("louse" in its definition) and the forced killing of her sister, a witness. But Raskolnikov could not use the stolen goods, he hides it. Since that time the horrible life criminal, restless, feverish mind, it attempts to find support and meaning in life, the justification of the act and its evaluation. Subtle psychological, existential interpretation of the act and the continued existence of Raskolnikov's colorfully referred Dostoevsky. In the novel are drawn more and more new faces. Fate brings him to a lonely, frightened, poor girl, in which he finds a kindred spirit and support, Sonia Marmeladova being on the road samoprodazhi to provide for his family. Sonia, a believer in God and tries to somehow survive in life, lost his father and later his mother. Raskolnikov also finds support in a university friend Razumikhin in love with his sister Avdotya Romanovna.